Lost Generation
by Inkster Girl
Summary: The Rookies are all grown up with families of their own. Now we follow the story of the youngest child of the Inuzuka clan as she and her team try to save the world from a dangerous threat. Join her as she battles for her country, for her family, her friends, and love. Mostly OC's.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Class is in Session**

The classroom was abuzz with chatter. Iruka sighed heavily as he stood at the front of the class.

"Alright everyone! I know that all of you are excited because it's the last day of school and graduation is only a few days away. Can we get this exam done and over with or what?"

A mixture of cheers and grumbles answered him. Smiling, Iruka picked up the class list from his desk.

"Now, this year's exam is based upon the ninja art of disguising one's self! I hope that all of you have been doing your homework and practicing your transformations."

Looking down at the class list, Iruka called down the first student.

"Rocky Lee!"

A small, slender boy in the back stood up and shouted, "Here Sensei!" The young boy wore a pair of forest green pants, a white t-shirt and a matching green vest. Rocky rushed up to the front, his large eyes focused, his thick brows furrowed with determination. Stopping next to the Iruka, he waited for further instructions.

"OK Rocky, I want you to disguise yourself as a civilian."

Nodding, Rocky did the appropriate hand signs and disappeared in a puff of smoke. A little girl in pigtails and a pink dress appeared in his place. The class erupted in laughter.

"Nice disguise Rocky!"

"Yeah, it suits you really well!"

Iruka hushed the kids and complimented Rocky's disguise. "Very well done Rocky. Not only did you disguise perfectly, but you chose a non-threatening form that wouldn't attract much attention. Pass!"

The little girl disappeared and a smiling Rocky emerged. "Thank you sensei!" Rocky bounded back to his seat.

Iruka read off the next name on the list. "Daichi Aburame!"

Another boy with short, spiky hair stood up silently and made his way to the front to stand beside Iruka. The collar of his coat was turned up to hide the bottom half of his face and his eyes were covered by a pair of round, dark glasses.

"Daichi, please demonstrate a transformation for the class."

Nodding, Daichi adjusted his round sunglasses and did a combination of hand signs. One moment he was there and the next moment a young man in his early twenties with blonde hair was standing where Daichi had been.

The class clapped along with Iruka. "Well done Daichi. Pass!"

Iruka continued to call kids up to demonstrate their skills. Each one did well, and few had some trouble but they managed to pull off a transformation in the end. Finally, Iruka reached the end of the list and called on the final student.

"Ashi Inuzuka!"

A tall girl stood up and made her way to the front. She shook her shaggy hair out of her eyes and looked at Iruka with dark brown orbs.

Iruka felt a small amount of pity for the girl before him. Unlike the other students, Ashi was tall for her age at 5 feet, while everyone else was under 4'5. She was often picked on for her height and the fact that she was quiet, shy and awkward around others didn't help.

Her bangs fell over her eyes, and the hair on the back of her head stood up in messy spikes and waves. However, despite her outward appearance, she was very bright and loyal to the few friends that she had. Iruka knew that she would be able to pass the exam without a problem.

Iruka motioned for her to transform and Ashi did the appropriate hand signs and transformed into a friendly looking old man. The old man smiled at the class, but that smile disappeared as a voice called out from the back of the room.

"Wow Ashi! It's not enough that you're already boring, but you have to show it in your transformation too?"

Sanosuke Uchiha smirked from his seat in the back as kids laughed at his comment. Iruka glanced to the side and saw the old man's eyes go sad and a second later, Ashi stepped out of a cloud of smoke and sat back in her seat.

Iruka hushed Sanosuke and gave Ashi a pass before letting the class go. As the kids left, Iruka reminded them that the graduation ceremony was in a couple of days and that afterward they would be assigned their squads.

He watched sadly as Ashi walked passed him with Daichi beside her. He sighed and thought, "_You'll grow up to be a fine kunoichi Ashi. I just hope that you get the chance to show everyone what you can do_."

* * *

Ashi walked down the street with Daichi. She glanced over at her silent friend and smiled. She and Daichi had been friends since before she could remember. They had spent a lot of time together as toddlers because her father and Daichi's father had been in the same ninja squad when they were younger and had remained friends, so their families spent a lot of time together.

"Are you excited for graduation?"

Daichi shrugged.

"Well, I am. Dad says that when I graduate, I'm going to be matched with the puppy that will be my partner, like Akamaru is for Dad and Ranna is for Nodo! And Dad also said that after my first mission, I can have clan tattoos put on!"

"Which ones?"

Ashi touched her unblemished cheeks thoughtfully. Her older brother Nodo had gotten the Inuzuka tattoos shortly after his first mission almost two years ago. He was always going to get the Inuzuka tattoos because he was the first born son to the Inuzuka clan leader, who was their father. Being second born, Ashi was a different story.

Their mother, Mimi, wanted Ashi to get her clan tattoos, which would consist of a pair of wolf paw prints on the palms of her hands and the soles of her feet.

Her mother was from a clan similar to the Inuzuka's, except that the Okami clan was associated with wolves rather than dogs.

Ashi blew her bangs out of her eyes. She could certainly see why her mother believed that they were descended from wolves. With her thick hair, sharp canines and long nails that some would call claws, Ashi did look a bit wild for a twelve year old.

Her brother had been a bit luckier and had taken after their father, whose looks were far tamer than their mother's. He also shared the same temperament as their father. He had even gotten a puppy from Akamaru's own litter. Ashi would be so lucky to get a puppy from Akamaru's litter.

"I think that I'm going to get the Okami tattoos. My mom really wants me to get them instead of the Inuzuka ones."

"Does she want you to take over the Okami clan?"

Ashi shrugged. "I don't know. Grandma Kegawa is the Okami clan leader now, and she mentioned something about it to mom and dad last time she came to visit. I heard her talking to them about taking me to the mountains to train, but mom and dad said not until I'm older and only if decide for myself."

"So you're going to leave?"

Ashi smiled sadly. "Maybe I will. It's not like Dad's going to declare me his heir anytime soon, and it would be nice if I got the chance to be the leader of my own clan. But that won't be for a long time yet, so don't worry Daichi. I don't even know if that's what I really want. " She nudged him in the side playfully. "Can't get rid of me that easily."

Daichi gave her a small smile in return.

"Aww, isn't this sweet. What a perfect pair you two make, the flea and the dog."

Ashi looked up to see Sanosuke and a group of his friends standing in the middle of the street. She immediately ducked her head down, not wanting a fight. She knew that if she and Daichi just kept walking, Sanosuke and his friends would eventually give up.

She started to walk past Sanosuke with Daichi following behind her, but Sanosuke blocked her path.

"Where do you think you're going?" He sneered. Ashi kept her eyes downcast, not answering him.

"Don't ignore me dog breath." Sanosuke said and shoved Ashi back.

From the corner of her eye, Ashi saw Daichi's hand twitch. She raised a hand to stop whatever he was about to do when a voice rang out from behind her.

"Hey! What's your brother doing to my sister Yumi?"

Ashi turned her head to see her brother and his two team mates walking up to them. Nodo's dog partner Ranna ran up to her and planted her paws on her stomach. Smiling, Ashi scratched the dog behind the ear in greeting. Being Akamaru's daughter, Ranna was bound to grow as big as he was, but that wouldn't happen for another year or so.

Yumi Uchiha looked at her younger brother with disapproving green eyes. Sanosuke fidgeted under her gaze.

"You alright Ashi?"

Ashi looked up at her brother's best friend, and the Hokage's son, Minato Uzumaki. Ducking her head so that Minato wouldn't see her blush, Ashi nodded.

Minato was two years her senior, the same age as her brother and the oldest child of Hokage Naruto and his wife Hinata. With blond hair, blue eyes and a ready grin, Minato looked exactly like his father, minus the whisker markings.

Nodo growled at Sanosuke. "You need to leash your brother Yumi."

Yumi sighed and flicked her shoulder length black hair behind her ear. "Not everything can be solved by thinking like a dog Nodo. Get your brain out of the kennel."

Yumi Uchiha was a classic beauty with bright green eyes, jet black hair and smooth skin. As the second oldest of the Uchiha brood, she was on the same team as Nodo and Minato. Ashi never liked her though because she was always seemed distant and snobby. Adding the fact that Ashi also considered her a rival for the heart of Minato Uzumaki, it was safe to say that Ashi would never really like her.

Nodo snorted. "Whatever Ice Queen." He sniffed distastefully in Sanosuke's direction. "He's obviously too dumb to worry about anyway."

Yumi glared at Nodo. "Easy Inuzuka. He's still my brother."

Nodo waved off her warning. "And he's bothering my sister."

"Not my fault she can't stick up for herself."

"What was that?"

Minato stepped in between the two. "Hey, take it easy. Now no one was hurt and everyone is fine. Just calm down you guys."

Nodo reluctantly backed off, as did Yumi. She walked over to Sanosuke and pulled him away, having a quiet word with him. Nodo clapped Ashi on the shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly.

"Don't worry sis, I'm here for you, but I can't keep coming to your rescue you know." The red triangles on his cheeks stretched as he smiled. Ashi smiled back at him good naturally.

"Hey, I just got back from the house and mom said that she wants you home as soon as possible. There's a special delivery waiting for you."

Ashi felt a spark of excitement. "Really? What is it?"

Chuckling, Nobo shook his head. "Sorry, but I can't tell you. You're going to have to see for yourself. Wish I could be there, but we have to meet up with Ayumi-sensei for a mission."

Ashi felt panicked for a moment but Nobo rushed, "But I'll be there for your graduation! We'll just be delivering a message, so I'll definitely be there."

Ashi smiled in relief. Even though her brother could be annoying at times, they were quite close to one another and if he had missed her graduation from the ninja academy, she wouldn't have been able to enjoy it fully.

"Now get going. Mom's waiting for you, and you know how she is at being patient. I'll see you in a few days."

Ashi hugged her brother goodbye and gave Minato a shy wave goodbye as well. She motioned for Daichi to follow, both of them walking past Yumi and Sanosuke. Ashi didn't miss the dirty look that Sanosuke threw at her, but she decided to ignore it. She parted ways with Daichi at his doorstep and then ran the rest of the way home.

* * *

Ashi opened the front door and hurriedly took off her shoes. It didn't seem like anyone was home, but when Ashi sniffed the air, she found a faint trace of her mother's scent. Her father's scent was also in the air, but it was old and stale. He was on a mission and promised to return by her graduation, but it was only a few days away and Ashi was afraid that he wouldn't be able to make it.

Sniffing the air once again, Ashi followed the trail of her mother's scent to the back door and figured that she must be working in the kennels.

The Inuzuka compound had a separate house of kennels for the ninja dogs that the clan trained. Her mother and father bred and trained all of the dogs that the ninja's of Konoha used, so naturally they needed a large enough facility to house all of them.

Ashi walked through the back door and was immediately welcomed by a chorus of happy barks. She smiled and greeted the dogs that came up to her. All of the dogs were trained not to run away at an early age, but there was still a fence around the compound to keep unwanted visitors out.

Ashi walked across the lawn to the building that acted as housing for the dogs and included a small medical wing where her mother acted as a vet to the furred residents.

Some of the younger dogs followed at her heels, nipping at her ankles and yapping for attention. Smiling, Ashi grabbed a few of the dog treats that she always carried around and threw them behind her. The dogs barked excitedly as they gave chase.

A few minutes later, Ashi found her mother in the examination room, wrapping up a pug's leg in bandages.

"Hey mom! Nodo said that you wanted to see me?"

Mimi smiled and Ashi caught a flash of fang. With dark wild hair, dark brown eyes, and standing at 5'10, Mimi always had a commanding presence despite her name. She had first come to Konoha with her mother to negotiate trading contracts, had fallen for a sharp toothed boy and never left.

"Hey pup, just let me finish with Nuttsy here and I'll be right with you."

Ashi leaned against the wall and watched her mom finish with Nuttsy. After Mimi had pinned the bandages and secured the plastic cone around the dog's neck, she picked Nuttsy up and disappeared behind the door marked 'Personnel Only'.

Mimi reappeared a minute later and ushered Ashi out of the examination room and into the housing wing where the dogs slept.

"So, how did the exam go?"

"It went alright I guess. I passed," Ashi said.

"That's great! Oh, and I got a letter from your father saying that he'll definitely be here to see you get your headband."

Ashi smiled, happy that her dad was coming home. Suddenly, Mimi stopped in front of a seemingly empty kennel. Mimi opened the fenced door and inclined her head, motioning Ashi to go inside.

Giving her mom a suspicious look, Ashi stepped inside. A flutter of movement caught her eye in the opening of the small dog house in the corner. As she stepped closer, a small black nose poked out of the opening. Pretty soon the nose was followed by a little black face set with bright golden eyes.

Ashi stood completely still as the black wolf cub padded out of the dog house and yipped a greeting.

"Do you like him?"

Turning to look at Mimi, Ashi gaped at her. Choking past her bewilderment, Ashi said, "He's for me?"

Mimi nodded. "That's right. He's from a line of wolves that my clan has been breeding for centuries. He's the grandson of Yami, your grandmother's ninken."

"He's Yami's grandson?" Ashi remembered Yami from the last visit Grandma Kegawa paid to the Inuzuka house. Yami was a grey wolf that stood about as tall as Ashi was now at five feet, which was about six to eight inches taller than Akamaru. Grandma had once told her that Akamaru was probably related to Yami in some way, but since Akamaru was smaller and looked more like a dog then a wolf, she couldn't be sure.

Yami had the same golden eyes that the cub in front of her did, but while Yami's coat was steel grey, his grandson's coat was as black as night.

Ashi knelt beside the cub and extended her right hand for the young wolf to sniff. The black cub cautiously came closer and sniffed her fingertips, then licked her thumb. Smiling, Ashi picked the cub up and cuddled him to her chest. The young wolf settled into her arms almost immediately, relaxing and settling his head on her forearm.

"He seems to like you."

Ashi looked up at Mimi. She was smiling at the sight of her daughter holding the young wolf in her arms. She hadn't said anything, but the fact that the cub had accepted her so fast was a sure sign that Ashi was more Okami than Inuzuka. The wolves from Yami's line only bonded with direct descendants of the Okami family, which meant that if Ashi chose to, she could eventually lead the Okami clan.

"What are you going to call him?" Mimi asked.

Ashi scratched the top of the cub's head. She couldn't just give him any name. It would have to be something that meant something to both her and the cub in her arms. Looking down at him, Ashi took in his black fur, his large paws, his eyes that twinkled like stars in the night sky…

"Yozora. I'm going to call him Yozora because he reminds me of the night sky."

Mimi nodded in approval. "That's a good name. It suits him very well. Now, you're responsible for him from here on out. When you eat, he eats; when you sleep, he sleeps; when you train, he trains with you. You're partners now. You have to learn to take care of each other. Understand?"

Nodding, Ashi put Yozora down and stood up. She turned to Mimi and her face broke out in a huge grin. Throwing her arms around her mother, Ashi hugged her.

"Thank you thank you thank you thank you! I promise that I'll take care of him, and feed him and train with him every day! Thank you so much mom!"

Laughing, Mimi hugged Ashi back just as tightly. They stood like that for a few moments before Ashi finally stepped back and looked down at Yozora.

"Come on Yozora! I'm going to show you my room!"

Yozora yipped in excitement and followed Ashi out of the kennel, sticking close to her side.

"And then I'm going to show you where you're going to sleep, and where you're going to eat, and tomorrow we're going to visit Daichi, that's my best friend and…"

Mimi shook her head in amusement as she watched Ashi walk away with Yozora. Walking back to the examination room, Mimi's thoughts turned to the future.

"_When Ashi is older, I certainly hope that she seriously considers taking over the Okami clan after Mama. She may not know it now, but she has a lot of potential and some day she's going to realize it. I just hope I'm there to see it_."

Still smiling, Mimi went in search of her next patient.

* * *

As Yozora made himself comfortable on her bed, Ashi changed into her pajamas. After she had changed, she turned off the light and crawled in under the covers. As she settled down on her side, Yozora curled up against her belly, tucking his nose under his leg. Ashi smiled and rubbed his ear, making Yozora sigh in pleasure.

Closing her eyes, Ashi left herself drift off into sleep, happier then she'd been in a long time and excited for what the next day would bring.

**Name Meanings**

Yozora – night sky

Ashi – paw

Mimi – ear

Nodo – throat

Yami – darkness

Kegawa – fur

Kiba – fang

*All Inuzuka names have to do with some part of a canine's anatomy.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Minato was sitting on a roof overlooking a small market square. He bit into the apple in his hand and watched as people walked past below him. His squad had returned from their mission just a few hours ago and both of his team mates had gone home to rest before the graduation ceremony.

Suddenly, Minato heard a yip and turned his head towards the sound. He saw Ashi Inuzuka, a small black puppy and Daichi Aburame round the corner and walk onto the street. Ashi and Daichi were talking about something while the little dog raced around their feet.

Minato cocked his head to the side as he studied the youngest Inuzuka sibling. He'd never tell Nodo, but he had always thought that Ashi was sort of cute. He liked her thick hair and her dark eyes, and especially her smile. He hadn't thought these things until very recently, ever since she went through that growth spurt that left her just a few inches shorter then he was.

Ashi laughed at something Daichi said and Minato felt a small surge of jealously. He quickly squashed it though. He didn't have any business in who Ashi spent time with, what they did or what she laughed at. He just wished that she would act like she did with Daichi around him.

He didn't think that she liked him very much. Whenever they made eye contact, she would look away. She never talked to him unless it was to say a quick hello, and when he asked her something directly, the answers usually consisted of one word. About a month ago, he had been walking down the street and had seen Ashi coming his way. He had started to call out to her, but when she saw him, she turned tail and walked away, leaving Minato standing alone.

"What are you doing?"

Minato snapped out of his thoughts and looked up to see Yumi standing next to him.

"Hey Yumi, thought you were at home."

Yumi sat down next to Minato, looking down at the people at the street. "Ceremony doesn't start for another hour or so, so I thought that I would come find you and see if you wanted to hang out for a bit."

Minato nodded absently, still watching Ashi as she and Daichi stopped at an ice cream stand. They purchased a couple of cones and continued on their walk.

Yumi studied Minato and noticed that Minato wasn't really paying attention to her. Following Minato's line of sight, she frowned when she saw the object of his attention. When she had first met Nodo, she thought that he was annoying but it was his younger sister that was proving to be a nuisance.

"It's a shame isn't it?"

Minato looked over at Yumi, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What's a shame?"

"Well, Nodo told me that his mom wants Ashi to take over the Okami clan, all the way up in the mountains. It sounds like she's going to be leaving."

Minato frowned. "Leaving?"

Yumi nodded, feigning sadness at the news. "It's sad really. I don't know for sure, Nodo didn't really give me much detail, but it sounded like it was a sure thing. He even mentioned that his mom got Ashi a wolf cub that's bred specifically for Okami clan leaders. I think that little ball of fur down there is him."

Minato looked down at the small black puppy at Ashi's feet. Indeed it was a wolf cub now that Minato looked more closely. He watched as Ashi bent down and scratched the cub under it's dark chin.

"I think it's a done deal that she's going to eventually take over."

"Do you know when she's supposed to leave?" Minato asked quietly.

Yumi shook her head. "Nodo didn't specify. He just said that it was the plan that their parents had for her."

Minato watched as Ashi stood back up. She, Daichi and the little wolf all walked away around the next corner and out of sight.

Looking over at Yumi, Minato smiled sadly. "So, you wanted to hang out?"

* * *

Ashi was sitting next to Daichi with Yozora sitting at her feet as the seats around them filled up with the graduating kids from the academy. In moments the Hokage would get up on stage and present the graduating students with the headbands that would mark them as ninjas of Konoha.

Ashi turned in her seat and searched the ever growing crowd for her parents. Spotting them to the side, Ashi waved at them and smiled when they waved back. Kiba Inuzuka, her father, had only come back from his mission that morning, a few hours before Nodo returned from his mission.

Ashi glanced at where her brother was standing with Minato and a few other friends. Nodo caught her eye and grinned, giving her a thumbs up. She grinned back, but when Minato turned to see what Nodo was doing, she quickly turned to hide her blushing face.

Beside her, Daichi was sitting quietly, waiting for the ceremony to start. He hadn't said anything to her, but Ashi knew that he was as excited as she was to get their headbands.

It took almost twenty more minutes for everyone to be seated. Everyone went silent when the Hokage stood up on stage. Grinning at the crowd, blond hair shining in the sun and whisker marks stretching across his cheeks, the Hokage raised his hand and said, "Hello everyone! What a beautiful day it is and I must say that I have never seen such a talented group of genin before!"

"You said that last year!"

Laughter and cheers sounded through the crowd. The Hokage smiled and raised his hand to quiet everyone down. "Alright, maybe I did say it last year, but it's true every year!" More cheers. "Now, how about we hand out some headbands! Now, we all know how this works, I'll give out the headband and Iruka-sensei over there," he waved his hand towards where Iruka was standing, "will give you your scheduled time to meet your squad!"

The crowd clapped. The Hokage started calling up the graduates and handing out headbands. Iruka shook his former student's hand and handed them slips of paper that had a time and place where they would meet their new teams.

After what seemed like forever, Ashi was finally called up. As she walked up the steps, she heard a bunch of howls and barks coming from the back of the crowd. She grinned when she saw Akamaru and at least a dozen other dogs from the compound making a racquet as she walked up to receive her headband.

The Hokage smiled kindly at her as she walked up to him. She smiled as he handed her headband.

"Congratulations Ashi Inuzuka. I know that you're going to be a great kunoichi."

Ashi bowed before the Hokage, her heart filling with pride at his words. "Thank you Hokage-sama."

The Hokage motioned for her to pass and she found herself in front of Iruka-sensei. He smiled down at her and shook her hand, his grip firm. "Congratulations Ashi. I know that you'll make a great kunoichi as well. I hope that you're first mission is an exciting one. And feel free to drop by the school anytime if you want to talk or just visit, ok?"

Ashi felt tears prick behind her eyes at his words, but blinked them back. Smiling up at Iruka, she said, "Thank you Iruka-sensei. I hope that I can see you again soon, it's been great having you as a teacher."

Iruka smiled and before letting her go, gave her a little slip of paper. "That will tell you when and where you'll be meeting your team. Good luck Ashi."

Ashi thanked him and walked off stage and back to her seat. As she walked off, she saw Daichi walk on stage. She sat back down quickly and smiled as she sat watching as Daichi got his headband from the Hokage and his handshake from Iruka.

She grinned at him in excitement as he came to sit back down beside her. He gave her a smile in return and patted Yozora on the head when he yipped his own congratulations.

It took another half hour until all of the other graduates had received their headbands and scheduled squad meetings. After the last graduate stepped off stage, the Hokage gave a small speech and dismissed everyone.

Ashi and Daichi immediately went to go find their families. Before she had the chance to show her parents her headband, her dad swept her up in a big hug.

"I'm so proud of you Ashi! I can't believe my baby girl is finally a kunoichi."

Mimi patted Kiba on the shoulder. "Hey, can I have a turn?"

Kiba grinned and handed over Ashi to Mimi, who enveloped her daughter in a tight hug of her own.

"So proud of you pup," Mimi whispered in Ashi's ear. Ashi hugged her mom, and then stepped back only to be enveloped in another pair of arms.

"Alright! Now I can beat you up whenever I want and have an excuse!"

Ashi punched Nodo on the shoulder. He only grinned at her and punched her back, only a lot more gently. "Congrats Ashi."

"Thanks Nodo," Ashi said.

"Hey, so what time are you supposed to meet your team?" Nodo asked.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Ashi took the little piece of paper out of her pocket and unfolded it. It said: _Training Grounds 43, 1:00pm Thursday_.

Looking over her shoulder, Nodo read the note. "Isn't today Thursday?"

Ashi turned to her parents in panic. "What time is it?"

Kiba looked at Mimi and shrugged. Mimi sighed and glanced at her watch. "It's 12:48."

Gasping, Ashi turned and started to go, but remembering her family, she turned back, giving her parents hugs goodbye and her brother another punch in the arm. As she ran off with Yozora, she called back to them, "Bye! I'll see you later!"

Kiba and Mimi watched as Ashi ran off down the street with a little black ball of fur running beside her. Kiba turned his attention to Nodo when she was out of sight and clapped him on the shoulder. "Come on boy, I've been gone a month and even if your sister is abandoning me, you're not getting away that easily."

Sighing to himself, Nodo followed his parents home with Ranna and the other dogs trailing behind them.

Ashi flew down the streets with Yozora. Training grounds 43 were right next to the Hokage cliffs and the graduation ceremony had been in the middle of town. If she wanted to get there fast, she would really have to move.

Suddenly, something flew over her head and landed beside her, moving as fast as she was. It was Daichi, and he smiled at her as he held up a fluttering piece of paper with the words '_Training Grounds 43_' on it. Laughing, Ashi and Daichi raced down the street together.

* * *

Neither of them spotted anyone else when they reached the training grounds. They decided to sit under a tree to escape the heat of the sun. While they waited, Ashi watched Yozora as he chased a bee around the field, smiling at the little wolf's antics.

"So you two are on my team? I gotta see if I can get a transfer."

Ashi turned and watched as a dark haired boy stepped out from behind the trees that lined the outside of the training grounds. She groaned inwardly when she recognized him.

Long black hair pulled back into a low pony tail, bright blue eyes and handsome features, Kazuki Hokaida would seem like a very likeable boy. However, he was friends with Sanosuke and often participated in teasing her whenever he had the chance.

Kazuki sighed and leaned against the tree that she and Daichi were sitting under. Sneering down at them he said, "Well, I can see straight off that I'll be doing most of the work on this team."

Ashi scowled at him and turned her head away. It was just her luck that one of her team mates was one of the people that she was sure not to get along with. At least she had Daichi though. The fact that her best friend was on her team more than made up for the fact that she had to work with Kazuki for the foreseeable future.

They waited around for ten more minutes before their instructor arrived. The man walking towards them was tall, with red gold hair and piercing hazel eyes. His nose was straight and hooked, which kind of made him look like some predatory bird. His most eye-catching feature was a long, ugly scar that ran across his throat. As he approached, Ashi and Daichi hurriedly stood up and brushed themselves off.

The man stopped before them, his eyes scanning them and by the look on his face, Ashi figured that he must find them lacking.

"My name is Kenta Huboro, and I will be your team captain. You may call me Huboro-san. Not Huboro-chan, Huboro-sensei, Kenta-sensei, Kenta-san. It's Huboro-san and nothing else." His voice was cold and smooth. With that scar, Ashi thought his voice would sound really different, like gruff or raspy.

"Now, I know all of your names already, so there's no reason for us to exchange pleasantries. I want all of you to give me twenty laps around the outer wall of the village, no walking, no stopping, no breaks. Get going."

"Twenty laps?!" Kazuki cried. "That - "

He was cut short by Huboro-san as the older man picked him up by the collar. Looking Kazuki dead in his eye, Huboro-san said, "If you don't want to do it, then get lost." With that said, Huboro dropped him unceremoniously and Kazuki stumbled back in surprise.

Kazuki looked over at Ashi and Daichi, but Daichi just shrugged and started jogging away. Ashi gave Kazuki a sad look and followed Daichi, Yozora behind her. It wasn't too long after that that Kazuki followed suit.

As Ashi ran, her thought turned to her new instructor and how hard the next few months were going to be.

* * *

Ashi had been right about the next couple of months. Huboro-san was a strict captain and disciplined his team thoroughly. Ashi, Daichi, Kazuki and Yozora struggled during the first month, but quickly gained endurance as time went on.

It wasn't until they gained more endurance that Huboro-san started to go through battle techniques, strategies, combat positions, genjutsu, ninjutsu and taijutsu. He may have been a rough teacher, but not one of them could argue that he wasn't a good teacher. He pushed them and wouldn't let them rest until they got something right. He taught them more than just how to fight, he taught them how to be real ninjas.

Ashi, Daichi and Kazuki also started to get along a lot better as time progressed. Ashi noticed an improvement in Kazuki's attitude shortly after getting her tattoos. She had been showing Daichi the black inked paw prints when Kazuki came up behind her.

"Hey, what are those?" He asked, looking down at her hands.

Ashi held out her hands for him. "They're my new tattoos, my mother's clan tattoos. Only members of the immediate Okami family have them and mom says that when I get older, I might get the chance to become the clan leader."

"That sounds pretty cool."

"Yeah! And I have a pair on the bottom's of my feet too. Mom says that these tattoos help us to command the power and grace of wolves so that we can become better ninja."

Kazuki's eyes widened appreciably. "Heh, I would say that's a good thing. I think you need all the help you can get."

Ashi frowned and looked up at him, but Kazuki wasn't wearing his usual mean smirk. His eyes had humor in them, and his voice was teasing.

Ashi was stunned for a moment, but quickly recovered. Giving him a playful smile of her own she said, "I don't think I'll need much help being better than you Kazuki."

Kazuki scoffed and proceeded to show Ashi and Daichi how much better he was.

Their missions so far had been minor: delivering letters, escorting diplomats around the town, rescuing cats from trees and demonstrating to younger kids proper ninja technique. It wasn't until seven months into their training that they were given their first real mission.

Ashi, Daichi and Kazuki were relaxing in the shade after a period of rigorous training, talking about unimportant things when Huboro-san appeared before them.

The three genin quickly stood up and formed a line, their backs straight. Even Yozora stood at attention next to Ashi, the wolf cub having grown in the past months and haven proved himself many times to be a valuable member of the team.

Huboro-san smiled as he inspected his team. "How has your training been going this afternoon?"

"Very well Huboro-san," they answered together. Yozora yipped in agreement.

Huboro nodded in approval. "Good, then let me ask you a question. Do you think you're all ready for your first mission out in the field?"

The trio's eyes simultaneously widened. They broke out into big smiles and nodded enthusiastically.

Huboro smiled. "Then I'll meet you at the city gates tomorrow bright and early. Until then, go home and rest up. We got a ways to go tomorrow," and with that, Huboro disappeared.

Kazuki whooped and pumped his fist into the air. "Oh yeah, our first real mission! I wonder what they're going to have us do. Maybe spying on someone, or maybe it's an assassination mission, or maybe a-"

"Kaz!" Ashi laughed, "Take it easy. We're probably going to be doing something like, delivering a package to the neighboring village or escorting someone out of the country. We're only a genin team. We're not gonna get anything serious until we pass the chunin exams."

Kazuki deflated a bit, but perked again as he said, "But we still get to get out of the village and actually do something for a change!"

After a few more minutes of excited chatter, the three teammates decided to part ways and go home to prepare and rest up.

Ashi and Yozora walked down the streets of Konoha, smiling and nodding politely at people as they passed. Looking down at her furry friend, Ashi smiled and said, "Are you excited for tomorrow Yozora? I sure am. Just think of it, our first real mission! I can't wait to tell mom and dad!"

Yozora barked his agreement.

"Come on. I'll race you to the house!"

Laughing, Ashi and Yozora ran all the way back to the Inuzuka complex, both anxious and excited for the upcoming day.

* * *

Ashi hugged her parents good-bye the next morning. Mimi and Kiba watched as their youngest shouldered her pack, and waved one last good-bye to them before walking off with the small wolf right behind her.

Kiba looked over his wife. "She'll be fine you know. It's just an escort mission after all."

Mimi smiled at him, although it didn't reach her eyes. "I know that, it's just that I have this weird feeling…"

Putting a hand on her shoulder, Kiba tried to reassure her. "It's probably just nerves. I have them too."

Mimi nodded and watched as Ashi turned the corner, disappearing from view. "I hope so…"

* * *

Ashi and Yozora met up with Daichi on their way to the front gates of the village. Both Ashi and Daichi had their packs on their backs, filled with their sleeping bags, water bottles, some food and a few weapons that they couldn't carry on their persons.

Kazuki and Huboro were already at the gate waiting for them. It appeared as if the person that they were escorting out of the village hadn't arrived yet, so all of them waited around a little longer.

They didn't have to wait that long, however, because after a few minutes an old woman came up to them and said, "Hello dears! Are you going to be escorting me back to my village?"

Huboro answered her. "Yes ma'am. We'll be escorting you back to the town of Tani."

The woman smiled, the wrinkles in her face bunching up as she did so. "I'm so happy to hear that. It nearly killed me getting here in the first place, so it really gives me peace of mind that all of you youngsters will be taking care of me. My name is Kiren Matsumo by the way, and it's a pleasure to meet all of you."

Kiren smiled at Ashi and Ashi smiled back politely. The quickly got all their gear and set off through the gates.

They headed southwest, heading toward River Country. For two weeks, they travelled through Fire Country and Ashi loved every minute of it. Out in the wilderness was where she felt most comfortable. She loved the smells of the forests, the sounds that different animals made, the feeling of the fresh air on her face.

Kiren seemed to be a nice woman as well, but Ashi felt weird around her, unsettled. It didn't help at all that Kiren liked her perfume overly sweet and strong. Ashi and Yozora had to stay up wind of her through the whole trip because the smell of her perfume made Ashi's head spin and Yozora sneeze.

A few days walk from Tani, their group stopped near a wall of bluffs to rest and eat. Ashi fed some sandwich bits to Yozora while Huboro checked out the surrounding area. Kiren rested on a fallen log, and both Daichi and Kazuki dropped their packs to the ground and stretched.

"I'm glad that we're almost there," Kazuki groaned out as he cracked his back. "It's going to be so nice when we get back home and tell everyone about our first real mission."

"But we didn't really do anything except escort Miss Kiren," Ashi said, smiling at Kiren.

"Yeah, but we can always make something up."

Chuckling, Ashi fed Yozora the last bit of sandwich, then brushed the crumbs off her hands on her pants.

Kiren chuckled as well. "That sounds wonderful dear, but I'm afraid that you won't be able to make anything up when you get home."

Kazuki frowned. "Why?"

"Because you're not going home dear. You're going to die."

Ashi was stunned at what Kiren said, and almost missed the glint of metal in her hand. As fast as she could, she tackled Kazuki to the ground as a kunai flew over their heads and embedded itself in a tree.

They sprang apart as Kiren shot another kunai at them, then watched as she dodged the shuriken Daichi threw.

Yozora was at her side in an instant, growling at Kiren. Ashi was still reeling from the attack, and with Huboro away for the moment, she knew that they had no chance. It had been pure luck that she had seen the first throw coming, otherwise Kazuki would have been dead already.

Kiren was crouched in front of them, ready to attack. The trio unsheathed their own weapons, ready to fight.

Kiren smirked. "It's unfortunate that I have to kill all of you, but it needs to be done regardless. I am sorry about this."

Kazuki snorted. "Yeah, you seem real sorry."

"Who do you work for? What are you here for?" Ashi asked.

"I'm here to kill you, like I said."

Ashi frowned in confusion. "But we're just genin. We're no real threat to you or anyone."

Kiren sighed and gave Ashi a pitying look. "Yes, I know that, but orders are orders. It's nothing personal, it's just that with your deaths, the bosses plan will be put into action. It just needed to be a genin team, any would have done. You were just unlucky enough to win the draw."

There was a sudden flash of movement in the corner of Ashi's eye. It was Huboro and he was heading right at Kiren. Kiren dodged easily however, jumping away before Huboro could land a hit.

Huboro threw a couple of shuriken at her, which she deflected easily once again. Huboro glared at her. Kiren only smirked back at him, which seemed to make Huboro angrier. He sprang toward her, but she was too fast and instead of running to the forest, she ran right at Ashi, Daichi, Kazuki and Yozora. Daichi and Kazuki both jumped to the sides and made it behind Huboro, their backs to the rock wall of the bluffs.

Ashi had to pause to pick up Yozora before she jumped, and barley made it out of the way of Kiren's knife as it slashed at the empty space where she once stood. Taking her position behind Huboro with the others, she put Yozora down beside her and faced Kiren.

Kiren smiled as she looked upon them. Slowly, she put her knife away somewhere within the folds of her clothes. Confused, Ashi and the others watched her wearily.

"Well, it was so nice of all of you to cooperate with me. I'm afraid that I do need to go now, so I'll be finishing this quickly."

"What are you talking about? There's four of us and only one of you!" Kazuki yelled at her.

Kiren dug into her pocket once again. All of them tensed up as she did, but they weren't expecting what she pulled out.

It was a small cylindrical object, black in color and no longer than Ashi's hand.

Kiren held her thumb poised over the end of it and suddenly Ashi knew what it was that she was holding.

"Get out of the way!" she cried, but when she tried to run, her feet stuck to the ground. She heard Yozora whine and looking down, she saw him try to move as well, but couldn't. The others seemed to have the same problem. None of them could move from where they were standing.

Looking up at Kiren in panic, Ashi tried to reason out what was going on.

"I infused the area you're standing on with chalkra while all of you were sleeping. The chalkra in the ground sort of acts like a magnet, or glue to other beings that can use chalkra, such as yourselves. Now, I really must be going. I have other things to do after all."

Ashi watched in horror as Kiren's finger dropped and a resounding 'BOOM' sounded above them. Ashi looked up and saw the top of bluffs explode and start to fall.

Without thinking, she dropped to her knees and covered Yozora with her body in a futile attempt to protect him.

Kiren watched as the rocks fell on the group and when the dust settled, she approached the little hill of rock and rubble. Tsking under her breath, she did a few hand signs and disappeared in a puff of smoke. The Kiren that appeared after the smoke cleared was very different from the old woman that Ashi and her team had escorted.

This Kiren was much younger, with pitch black hair and cold grey eyes. She was dressed as a ninja, black tank, green vest, and black shorts. The most surprising thing about her however wasn't her clothes or her changed looks. It was the Hidden Leaf headband that she wore on her forehead.

Quickly checking the avalanche sight, Kiren took out a com-link from her pocket and placed it in her ear.

"Hey, it's me. The job's done and phase one of the plan is complete. I'm coming back to the base."

Kiren took the link from her ear and without looking back, walked away.

* * *

_1 Month Later_…

Minato stood silent next to his father and mother as the funeral ceremony came to a close.

A few weeks after the date that Ashi's team was supposed to return, Minato's father sent out a search party to look for them. They found the site where Ashi and the others had been buried and retrieved the bodies to bring back home.

No one knew what happened, but it was speculated that they had been attacked by a band of rogue ninjas from River Country. Genka Itsuo, an advisor of Minato's father, was currently looking into it.

Minato looked over at Ashi's family. Kiba stood next to his wife stone faced. He hadn't shown an ounce of emotion since the ceremony had begun, but Minato had heard that when the news of his daughter's death had been delivered a week ago, Kiba had gone into a fit of rage and anguish.

Mimi was crying silently beside her husband, and Nodo was about as stone faced as his father, but his eyes betrayed his true feelings. They were filled with anger, despair and loss.

Minato wished he could do something to help his friend, but knew that he couldn't. He didn't believe it at first, that Ashi and the others had died. He had refused to believe it. Ashi couldn't have been dead. She couldn't because he had never told her…Never told her that…Well, it didn't matter anymore, because he wasn't ever going to be able to tell her anything ever again.

Minato watched as the large black pillar was erected, carrying Ashi's and her teammates names on it, even Yozora's. Their freshly dug graves were dark and depressing. Minato felt Ashi's death hit him full on in the chest as he looked at them. She was never coming back.

He glanced up as Nodo left with his parents, and then left with his own family. Heading back to his home, he looked up at the sky and thought, "_Ashi, I hope that you're happy…wherever you are_."

* * *

_29 Days Ago_…

Waking up in darkness, feeling very sore and disoriented, Ashi's first thought was, "C_rap_."


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Notes**: I wanted to make Yozora's size clear to everyone reading. I modeled him after the wolves in Princess Mononoke, so if anyone's seen the movie, he would be the size of Moro, but black.

**Chapter 3**

Ashi couldn't see anything. There was no light at all where she was, and she had to think for a moment before the memory of what happened came back to her.

Something brushed against her nose, and her head jerked back reflexively only to bang against something hard above her. Swearing, Ashi raised her hand to rub the back of her head. Something brushed against her other arm this time and a whimper sounded.

"Yozora?"

She got another whimper. Forgetting her bumped noggin, Ashi reached blindly down and sighed in relief when her hand met fur.

"Yozora, are you ok?"

Yozora barked once, which Ashi knew meant "Yes." Ashi breathed another sigh of relief at this, but her relief at both her and Yozora's lack of injury disappeared almost as fast as it had come.

Reaching out with her hands, she found that she was surrounded by rock, and with no light to guide her, she wasn't sure which way was out. It seemed that luck had really been on her side, because the biggest injury that she had was the bump on her head. Yozora was in pretty much the same shape sans the bump.

She was crouched on all fours with Yozora beneath her, his back pressed against her belly and chest. Stretching out her right hand and leg, she found that she had couple of feet of extra room. Moving forward, she pushed experimentally against the rock in front of her.

The rock didn't move. She moved backwards and pushed against the rock behind her with her feet, and that one didn't move either. Starting to feel panicked, Ashi shoved against the rocks above her and to the sides of her. None of them moved.

Ashi panted from fear and felt tears prick the back of her eyes. She didn't want to die, and dying like this…

"No, stop it Ashi. You're going to be fine, just fine," she said to herself, trying to hold off the fear. "Um, you have a couple of matches in your pocket don't you? Let's light one and see if that makes a difference."

Feeling her pockets, Ashi eventually found the one that held the little box of matches. Taking them out, Ashi struck one and the space she was confined in was immediately flooded with light.

Giving a quick smile to Yozora, Ashi inspected her surroundings. A boulder served as her ceiling, with two smaller ones at her front and rear. Large rocks piled on top of one another at her sides.

As far as she could tell, there was no light at all that she could see through the cracks. Then again, she didn't know how long she'd been unconscious, so it could be night outside.

Suddenly, a faint buzzing sound assailed her ears. She looked around and choked down a sob when she spotted one of Daichi's bugs on the rock in front of her.

"Daichi's alive…" she murmured.

The little bug flew to her and landed on her out-stretched palm. The bug flitted around on her hand before flying down to the ground. Ashi watched as the little insect started to burrow into the dirt.

Ashi understood the message. Daichi was telling her to go through the ground since it was impossible for her to get through the rock. She felt stupid for not thinking about it before. Huboro-san had gone through the art of moving through the ground a while ago.

Looking down at Yozra, Ashi raised her eye brow. "You ready?"

Yozora barked twice. Smiling, Ashi pulled Yozora into her chest and followed Daichi's bug.

It seemed like forever before Ashi and Yozora broke through to fresh air. Taking a deep breath, Ashi pushed Yozora out into the night air before coming out herself.

"Ashi!"

Ashi looked up and saw Daichi and Huboro-san with a lamp. Both of them looked fine except for the rough splint on Daichi's left forearm and she noticed that Kazuki wasn't with them.

"Where's Kazuki?"

Daichi looked up at Huboro-san worriedly. Huboro didn't say anything, just jerked his head and walked away towards the trees. Ashi hurriedly got up and followed him with Daichi and Yozora.

After five minutes of walking, Ashi found herself in a small clearing with a small fire. Beside the fire lay a figure. Ashi rushed over and knelt by Kazuki.

"What happened to him?"

Huboro spoke. "He wasn't as lucky as we were. Daichi only had a broken wrist, I had a few bruises, but Kazuki's leg…It was completely crushed in the fall. We need to get him to a doctor or he'll die."

Ashi looked down at her unconscious teammate. There was a sheen of sweat on his face and the bottom half of his body was covered by a blanket.

"So what do we do now?" Ashi asked in a quiet voice.

"We can't go back," Huboro said softly. "Whoever Kiren was, I'm sure that she was one of Konoha's ninja's. If we go back, they'll just try to kill us again, and next time, they'll make sure that we're dead."

Ashi looked up at Huboro-san. "How do you know she was from Konohana?"

"The technique she used to trap us. It's specific to a particularly small clan from Konohana."

Ashi pursed her lips tightly, trying to keep in the tears. Not going back home meant that she wouldn't be able to see her parents, her brother, Minato… They'd all think that she was dead.

Ashi felt a heavy hand on her shoulder. "I know that it's not what you want to hear Ashi," Huboro said, "but you need to understand that we can do so much more if the people that did this think that we're dead."

Ashi nodded. Daichi came to stand on her other side and placed his uninjured hand on her other shoulder. That almost broke her, but she managed to keep it together and asked, "What about Kazuki?"

"There's a small village near here. We can get to it faster than travelling to the capital of River Country. I'm going to make something to carry Kazuki in and then we're going to move. Wait here with him."

Ashi watched as Huboro sped off into the woods. After he left, the first tear slipped and fell down her cheek. Daichi knelt beside her and wrapped his good arm around her. Ashi turned to him and buried her face in her shoulder, sobbing.

Ashi had run out of tears by the time that Huboro got back with the make-shift gurney and an armful of logs. Before they helped Kazuki, Huboro instructed them to make duplicates of themselves using the logs. This way, if anyone found them and returned them to Konoha, the people responsible for their attempted murder would believe that they succeeded.

After they did that, they loaded Kazuki carefully the gurney and started to make their way north. They reached the small village of Kintara in a few days. In the time that it took their little group to travel there, Kazuki's condition worsened.

The first thing that they did in the village was find a doctor. Before entering the village however, they had all removed their ninja headbands, vests and weapon so as not to raise suspicion.

The village doctor saw them in his little hut of a clinic and after inspecting Kazuki, he told Huboro that all he could for him was cut off the crushed part of his leg. The damage was far too extensive to try and save it, and if not removed, gangrene would eventually set in.

Daichi, Ashi and Yozoro stood outside while the doctor operated on Kazuki. After a couple of tense hours, Huboro finally stepped out and reassured them that Kazuki was going to live.

Ashi sagged down onto the ground. "Thank god…"

Yozora came over to her and put his paw on her leg. Ashi smiled at him and reached up to scratch his ear. Yozora whined in pleasure.

Kazuki regained consciousness within the next couple of days, and after getting over the shock of losing half of his leg, he started his rehabilitation. Needless to say he wasn't the same boy as before. Over the next couple of months he continued to train with all of them, not allowing his handicap to slow him down.

They had decided to stay in the village for the time being. Huboro became stricter and pushed the genin and the young wolf to their limits. Most of the time they collapsed after a day of training, but after a while, they improved and started to get less tired.

All of them were determined to grow stronger in the hopes of one day finding and taking out whoever had been behind their attempted deaths. Kazuki was slower to catch up for obvious reasons, but Ashi though she could fix that given time.

After Kazuki had lost his leg, Ashi's determination to train and get stronger went further than the others. Not only did she train, but she studied medical texts that she borrowed from the local doctor that had saved Kazuki. She learned about ninja healing techniques, chakra points in the body, medicinal herbs and medicines.

She also started to train more with the quickly growing Yozora. Specifically, teaching him the art of speech. She knew that some ninja trained animals could do it, and she had no doubt that Yozora could also do it.

She also took a sort of apprenticeship with the local black smith, so that she could learn how to make her own weapons. With her knowledge of the human body and the metal working, Ashi found a way to help Kazuki get back in prime fighting condition.

Almost two years after their coming to the village, their team was sitting down at the dinner table of their humble house when Ashi spoke up.

"Hey Kazuki, isn't it your birthday tomorrow?"

Kazuki looked at her suspiciously. "Yeah, it is? So?"

"Well, it seems that when you have a birthday, traditionally you get a present right?"

Kazuki frowned. "Please tell me that you didn't get me a present."

Ashi smiled at Huboro-san and Daichi. They both smiled back at her because they both knew what she had gotten for Kazuki and had actually helped her with it in their own ways.

Getting up from the table, Ashi went into the room that they all shared for sleeping, went into the closet and got out Kazuki's present.

When she stepped out with the gift in her arms, Kazuki's mouth dropped open.

"Ashi…" he said with wonder.

"Do you like it?" Ashi asked.

Kazuki didn't answer, just stared. In her arms, Ashi held a metal prosthetic leg that she had made herself. (Think Full Metal Alchemist) There were springs and wires that would connect to Kazuki's nerve and chakra endings to give him ultimate control over the fake limb. Over time, his body with get used to the prosthetic and it would be like Kazuki had never lost his leg at all.

Ashi walked over to Kazuki and handed him the prosthetic. He held it in his hands carefully and looked as if he was in a dream.

"Kazuki?" Ashi said looking down at her friend. "Kazuki? Aren't you going to say anything?"

Kazuki looked up at her slowly. He licked his lips and opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He bowed his head so that she couldn't see his face, but when his shoulder's started to shake, Ashi knew that she didn't need an answer.

Silently, she sat down beside Kazuki and placed her head on his shoulder, letting him cry.

"Happy Birthday Kazuki!"

Ashi laughed and looked out the window. Yozora was standing with his paws on the window sill, grinning a wolfish grin as only he could. The others laughed as well, even Kazuki and pretty soon everyone was laughing and joking together.

Yozora had grown a lot, coming up to Ashi's waist when he was on all fours. He would grow larger in time Ashi knew, because she remembered her mother telling her so.

Ashi thought of her family often, wondering what they were doing, how they were doing, how they were getting along. She missed them all terribly and not a day went by without her thinking about them.

She had the others though, which made her memories less painful. Both Kazuki and Daichi had become like brothers to her and she'd die for them if she'd have to. Huboro could never be her father, but he made a good father figure. He always had time for each of them, helping them, teaching them. And Yozora…well, everyone loved Yozora. He had a happy disposition and could always put a smile on anyone's face.

She and Daichi had been working on new techniques together. Trying new things with his insects, with the use of chakra and Ashi was sure that with the new moves that they had worked on, they would be able to one day defeat their unknown enemy.

Huboro had told them that they would be going out to collect intelligence very soon so they could start to find out who was behind their attack and what their future plans were. Very soon, they would have the info and the means to take down the enemy and very soon, she would be able to go home. Soon…

8_ Years Later_…

A black figure moved across the rooftops of the small town. The figure's target was a three story concrete building located in the west part of town. The figure jumped from rooftop to rooftop before landing on the top of a light post in front of their target.

The dark figure studied the building before making their next move. It was imperative that the mission was completed; there could be no room for mistakes.

The easiest point of entry would be through the men's washroom on the second floor, located on the east side of the building. From there, make way down the hall and into a small maintenance closet that was right above the security room. After killing the two guards that were on duty inside, the figure could then control the camera and light systems of the building.

The figure moved into action. In a few minutes and a couple of dead guards later, the figure was sitting at the control panel of the buildings security system.

"Alright, they said that they wanted dramatic… Let's see what we got to work with."

Using the cameras, the figure focused them on the front entrance of the building. There was a pathway leading to the front entrance and a row of lights on either side. The figure turned off the lights on the path one by one. Next, they focused the outdoor cameras on the dark path and waited.

The figure waited a few seconds before they heard a faint buzzing sound near his left ear.

"Finally." Reaching up to his ear, the figure clicked on the com-link in his ear. "Ready when you are."

"I'm in position. Do it."

The figure clicked and pushed some of the controls on the panel and one by one, the lights on the path blinked on again, starting with the pair nearest the door.

As the light progressed down the path, the cameras captured all of it. On the screens, the figure observed as the lights continued up the path, showing nothing until the ones nearer the end started to turn on.

When the second last pair of lights turned on, they illuminated a person standing in the middle of the path. The person was dressed in a long black coat, making it impossible to distinguish whether they were male or female. Their face was covered by a black tribal mask of a wolf, with golden markings on the forehead, cheeks and chin. A wild white wig flowed down to the center of the person's back, covering their natural hair.

The masked person stood perfectly still; made no move towards or away from the building. The person's presence would be unsettling to anyone watching, but it wouldn't be until the last set of lights came on that real fear would well up inside them.

A normal person would have screamed and ran once the last set of lights revealed what waited in the darkness. A common ninja would also feel fear, but would at least try to fight off the danger before turning tail. The figure in the control room just smirked.

Standing in a pool of pail light stood a hulking beast with blazing eyes of golden fire. The beast was bigger than a horse, and its fur made it look much bigger and much more powerful. Its mouth was open to reveal large ivory teeth, its hot breath steaming in the cool night air.

The image of the beast and the person stood still on stage for a brief moment before they both took a step forward, as if they were of the same mind. This is when the figure in the control room cut off all the camera feeds.

"Time to get to work."

* * *

Hiroku was a slight man with wire rimmed glasses, greasy blond hair and plain features. He was one of those people that you would look over when you scanned a crowd; there was really nothing worthwhile about hm.

Hiroku didn't like to make waves, didn't talk back and never, never did anything he wasn't supposed to. He hated confrontations and he knew that people thought he was a pushover, which he admitted he was. But when a person worked in a place filled with people that could kill you with a flick of their thumb, you didn't want to make anyone mad.

Hiroku hurriedly made his way down the hall, a large envelope clutched in his hands. What was inside the envelope was going to make some people mad, and he dreaded the thought of being in the same room with these people when that happened.

Reaching an unmarked door, Hiroku opened the door and walked through, stepping into one of the building stairwells. He took two flights up and walked onto the floor. Making his way down another hallway, Hiroku found himself in front of a pair of double doors.

Taking a deep breath, Hiroku knocked.

"Come in!"

Hiroku pushed the door open to reveal a lavish office. Expensive paintings hung on the walls, the furniture was made of dark polished wood, and the carpet underneath Hiroku's feet was a plush carpet.

But Hiroku's attention wasn't on any of these things. The man that sat behind the large desk demanded all of his attention. With iron grey hair, broad shoulders, grim face and eye the color of pitch, Genka Itsuo commanded attention whenever he was in a room. One of the advisors to the Hokage of the Land of Fire, Genka was a powerful man, and Hiroku had no intention of getting on his bad side.

Bowing his head, Hiroku waited for Genka to allow him entry.

"You may come forth Hiroku. What have you got for me?"

Gulping down his nervous feelings, Hiroku approached slowly. "My lord, I have the surveillance footage that you requested."

"Ah, yes. Bring it here."

Hiroku handed the envelope over to Genka. Genka opened the envelope and dumped the contents onto his desk. Photos littered the polished surface. Picking one up, Genka studied it with his eyebrow raised.

"What am I looking at here?"

Clearing his throat, Hiroku moved around to stand beside Genka's chair, but not too close. He pointed to the figure captured on the photo.

"My lord, this figure here is assumed to have taken out our foremost intelligence outpost in the south."

"Just this one person?"

"Well my lord, if you look at this picture here…"

Hiroku picked up a photo and held it up for Genka to see. His eyes widened in surprise. "What the hell is that thing?"

The image had the first figure, the person, in the same position. But the picture that Genka held did not have the space behind the dark figure illuminated. The picture that Hiroku held did. When Hiroku had first seen the photo, he had nearly pissed himself in fright for never had he seen an animal the size of the one in the image.

"Do you know what the hell that is Hiroku?"

Hiroku shook his head. "No my lord, I'm afraid not. At first I thought it was some sort of bear, but the legs are too long and so is the muzzle. Next I thought that maybe it was some sort of genjutsu, but that wouldn't have shown up on film. A few eye witnesses that survived the attack said that it resembled a giant dog or a wolf, but I've never heard of any breed of dog or wolf that could reach that size."

Genka sat back in his chair, frowning. "I have…" Reaching over to the phone, Genka dialed a number and said into the mouthpiece, "Get Kiren up here. Now."

Genka hung up the phone and motioned Hiroku to sit in the chair across from him. As Genka studied the other photos and Hiroku sat quietly, a woman stepped into the office. Hiroku turned his head to see who it was.

The woman had straight black hair, clear skin and a pleasant looking face, or it would have been if not for her eyes. She had cold grey eyes that could cut through a person like steel, and when she looked at Hiroku, he had to quickly look away.

Genka smiled when she entered, but the smile did not reach his eyes. "Kiren, so nice to see you. I trust that you're well?"

The woman, Kiren, nodded.

Genka studied her for a moment before turning his attention to the images on his desk. "Hiroku here has just brought me some surveillance footage that I thought you might want to see."

Genka picked up one of the photos and threw it Kiren. She caught it easily and glanced down at it. Hiroku looked up as she did and saw her eyes widen in surprise. Hiroku looked down again, not wanting to get caught looking at the woman. She looked as if she angered easily.

Genka spoke up. "Look familiar Kiren?"

Kiren looked at Genka. Licking her lips, Kiren said, "It's not possible."

A short burst of a laugh escaped past Genka's lips. "Apparently it is Kiren. I gave one simple task to do all those years ago and you couldn't even do that."

Genka sighed and rubbed his forehead like he had a headache and was trying to sooth it away. Glancing up at Hiroku he said, "Hiroku, have you shown these photos to anyone else, talked about it with anyone else?"

Hiroku shook his head. "No my lord, no one has seen these but me, and no one knows about the figures in the photos either except for me and the few survivors. There's also a tape in my office that only I have seen."

Genka nodded absently. "Good, good. That will make things easier. Kiren, if you please."

Hiroku didn't have time to think before he felt the woman's hands on either side of his head. Before he knew it, she yanked his head to the side, breaking his neck.

Kiren let Hiroku's lifeless body slump in the seat. Looking up at Genka she asked, "What would you like me to do?"

"Nothing. The fact that they let themselves be photographed and taped was to let us know that they're coming out of the shadows. They're going to come out into the light very soon Kiren, and when they do, they'll bring whatever evidence they got from that building with them to the Hokage." Sighing, Genka stood and walked to the windows, looking out into the darkness.

"That building was our major intelligence base. It had 50 top ranking ninjas protecting it, and only 2 survived. That too, was a message. We cannot afford to underestimate them Kiren, and we can no longer stay in the village. When the time is right, we will assume power and become kings of this land, and soon after that, we'll take control of the others."

Looking over at Kiren, Genka said, "Pack up everything Kiren. We leave for the mountain base as soon as possible, and leave nothing behind. Get to it."

Kiren nodded and bowed slightly before leaving.

Genka turned to look out the window one more time. "I'll be ready for you, just you come and see."

* * *

Nodo stood with his father as they waited for the rest of the clan leaders to arrive to the meeting.

A few days ago, one of the Hokage's chief advisors, Genka Itsuo, had disappeared unexpectedly. His offices had been completely emptied, his home was vacant and all of the ninja under his employment had disappeared with him.

No one knew what was going on or what was happening, which was why the Hokage had called a council meeting. His father had told him that the Hokage had been suspicious of Genka for a few years now, but never had any evidence to prove that Genka was doing anything worthy of an official investigation, until now.

Nodo sighed and leaned against the wall behind his father's chair. His eyes scanned the room. The Hokage and his son where all ready in attendance, and he shared a brief smile and a nod with Minato.

He and Minato had continued to be best friends through the years. Nodo knew that after the death of his sister Ashi, he hadn't been the easiest person to get along with, but Minato had stuck with him regardless. The same couldn't be said for Minato's girlfriend and Nodo's former teammate Yumi Uchiha however.

Nodo hadn't voluntarily spoken with Yumi for the better part of four years. He didn't know when he started to dislike her, but now he hated the frosty bitch and couldn't for the life of him figure out what Minato saw in her.

Yumi stood behind her father's seat, looking groomed and spotless as usual. Nodo's eyes narrowed as he studied her. Perfect hair, perfect skin, perfect build and body shape. Nodo growled low in his throat. He knew that Yumi thought she was better than other people, which was the basic Uchiha mentality.

Nodo was snapped out of his inner thoughts as the Hokage stood to address the council.

"Good morning everyone, it's good to see you although I wish we were meeting under better circumstances. I've called the council together today to discuss the recent disappearance of Genka Itsuo. Some of you know that I have been suspicious of Genka's activities for some time now, but have never had enough evidence to convict or accuse him of anything."

Taking a breath, the Hokage continued, "Last night I was contacted by a group of unknown ninja that claim they have been gathering intelligence on Genka for years. They also said that they would like to share this information with us, so I've asked them here today."

The doors of the meeting room opened. All heads turned to stare at the figures that stepped in. There were four of them of varying heights and widths, all wearing black cloaks, black animal masks with different colored markings and wild white wigs. A ring of armed shinobi surrounded them as they entered.

The largest of them wore a bear mask with red markings. The second largest wore a fox mask with orange markings. The slender one wore an insect mask with green markings, and the smallest of the four wore the mask of a wolf with golden markings.

Nodo studied each, discerning that the three taller figures were male, and the smaller was female, but not by much considering that the shortest of the four was around five foot eight.

He sniffed, trying to catch their scents. None of the scents coming off the larger figures were familiar, but the smaller one…

The fox stepped forward and addressed the council. "We've come here today to offer our assistance to you and your village."

"Why help us?" It was Shiki Kuraya, leader of the Kuraya clan.

The fox turned to look at him. "We help because we owe our allegiance to the Hidden Leaf Village, and because we have a personal score to settle with Genka Itsuo."

Confused chatter filled the room. Kuraya spoke up again. "What did Genka do to you that warrants your hostility towards him?"

"He had us killed," the fox said simply.

More confused chatter. "If you're really here to help us, then why don't you take off your masks? Allies should know one another and I think that if we are to allow you into our village, we should be able to see your faces."

The fox looked at the other three, as if silently communicating with them. After a few moments, the fox nodded and turned back face the council.

"Very well then. We will reveal our identities to you all, but before we do, let me say that this may come as a shock."

The fox pulled off his white wig and black mask to reveal the face underneath. Stunned silence followed.

"I am Kenta Huboro, ninja of Konoha."

Nodo was as silent as everyone else. It was not possible. Kenta Huboro had died along with his sister eight years ago. There was no possible way…

The bear was next to take off his mask. "Kazuki Hokaida, ninja of Konoha."

Nodo watched as the insect pulled off his mask. "Daichi Aburame, ninja of Konoha."

As the wolf pulled off their mask and wig, Nodo watched with horror and anger as the wolf's face was revealed. He saw the same pert nose, same pouty mouth, and the same almond eyes of the young girl he had lost so long ago.

He noticed that her face was thinner, having lost all of its baby fat through age, and she was taller. Her hair looked different too. It was thicker, and was pushed back from her face to wave and spike down her back.

She looked wild and beautiful, and as he looked at her Nodo felt a rage like he's never felt before. How dare this person use his sister's face! How dare they do this to him, to his family, to his village! His eyes turned red as he heard the impostor speak his sister's name as if it were her own.

"Ashi Inuzuka, ninja of Konoha."

Without thinking, Nodo's hand found his knife.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The silence in the room was broken by an angry scream. Nodo leaped toward the Ashi imposter, knife at the ready. The imposter blocked it easily, which only made Nodo angrier.

"Nodo! Stop!"

Nodo faintly recalled Minato's voice but he was too far gone to stop now. He slashed and stabbed, but the impostor was much too fast for him to land a hit. The worst part was that she wouldn't fight back, just watched him with her brown eyes that looked exactly like…

Suddenly, several pairs of arms were around him and holding him back.

"Bitch!" He yelled. "How dare you use her face! How dare you try to look like her!"

It was so fast that he never saw it coming, but the sudden sound of an open faced palm connecting with skin echoed through the hall.

"Nodo!"

Her voice. Her voice sounded just like Ashi's.

"I understand that you don't think it's me Nodo, but it is." The woman who looked like Ashi carefully took his face in her hands, turning his eyes to look into hers. "Nodo it's me, Ashi."

Nodo shook his head. "No…"

An annoyed look flashed over the woman's face. "Nodo, I'm telling you the truth." She took off the glove she was wearing to show him the black paw print tattooed on her palm. "Remember when I got these? You were right beside me the whole time, and when they were done, you carried me home so that I wouldn't have to walk on them. On the way back you told me that even though you were next in line for the Inuzuka clan leadership, you thought that I would be the one who would be the great leader. Remember?"

Nodo stood stunned. He never told anyone about that.

Shrugging off the hands and arms that held him back, Nodo looked at the young woman in wonder.

"Ashi? It's you? Really you?"

The woman, Ashi, smiled and nodded.

Now Nodo had never been one to cry, or weep, or give into any strong emotion except anger, but as he looked down at Ashi, he felt the tears he had held back for so many years flow out.

Ashi opened her arms and Nodo stepped into them. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly. He bent his head into her shoulder and cried for the first time in years.

Ashi felt tears prick her eyes and flow down her face as well. Breathing a shuddering sigh, she held onto her older brother. She'd been waiting so long to come back to her family. It was by far the happiest moment in her life. She was aware of Daichi's father, Shino, rush over to his son, and the council members crowding around them is disbelief.

Ashi patted Nodo's back and stepped back a bit for some space. Chuckling, she reached up and wiped the tears off of Nodo's face with her hand. Smiling, Nodo cupped her hand with his and just held it to his cheek.

"Missed you," he whispered.

"I missed you too bro," Ashi whispered back.

A hand fell on her shoulder and Ashi turned to look into another set of familiar eyes.

"Dad."

"Ashi, I thought…we thought…" Kiba started.

Ashi cut him off by jumping into his arms. "I know dad, I know."

Kiba hugged Ashi almost as tight as Nodo did, and after a few moments, Ashi felt Nodo come in behind her and put his arms around both her and their father.

Finally, she was home.

* * *

Kazuki watched as Ashi was reunited with her family. He knew how much it had meant to her to come back home to them, and seeing her happy made him happy. He looked over at Daichi and his father as they hugged and shared silent messages.

Kazuki grinned. "_Like father, like son_," he thought.

A flash of yellow caught his eye and he focused on the young son of the Hokage, Minato. Kuzaki remembered him, but had never talked to him. He knew that Ashi had had a thing for him when they were younger and he wondered if she still had a thing for him after all these years.

It definitely looked like Minato had a thing for Ashi. The guy hadn't stopped staring at her since she took off her mask, but then again, seeing someone come back from the dead had to be a shock.

Kazuki sidled up next to Huboro-san and nudged him with his broad shoulder. When Huboro-san turned to look at him, Kazuki jerked his head slightly to the side in Minato's direction.

Huboro glanced at Minato and smiled. "Seems like the golden prince has a little thing for our Ashi."

Kazuki snorted. "Little? He hasn't stopped staring at her since she took off her mask. It's like he's a man who's gone thirty years without sex, then was given a free pass to the best brothel in town."

Huboro stifled a laugh. "Colorful Kazuki, as usual."

"I aim to please."

"Why do you care anyway? Ashi has freedom to go along with anyone she chooses, and that includes the Hokage's son."

Kazuki frowned. He knew that Ashi was free to date and go out with whomever she pleased, but after eight years of living together, training together, doing everything together, it was needless to say that he was protective of her.

Huboro watched as Kazuki's eyes turned back to look at Ashi with her father and brother. Kazuki didn't know this, but whenever his eyes rested on the young brunette, they softened almost immediately.

Smiling, Huboro shook his head with pity for the dark haired man standing beside him. "_You have no idea what you're in for_."

After things had settled down, the Hokage called the council to order. Ashi parted with her father and brother as they went back to sit down while she remained standing in the middle of the room with her team.

As she wiped her eyes free of tears, she caught Kazuki's eyes and smiled. He smiled back at her and motioned her over to stand beside him.

When she reached his side, he reached up with his hand and brushed his thumb across her cheek. Kazuki smiled and said, "Missed a few."

Smiling her thanks, Ashi sniffed one last time and blinked to clear her gaze. She faced the Hokage with the rest of her team.

The Hokage addressed them. "I must say welcome back to all four of you. It makes me happy to see you truly alive and well, but we must get down to business. You have told me that you have proof of what Genka was up to."

Huboro nodded. "Yes we do my lord." Huboro turned and held out a hand for Ashi to step forward. She did so and looked up at the Hokage.

"My lord Hokage, my team and I have been infiltrating various intelligence buildings and gathered intelligence on Genka Itsuo for the past eight years. We have never gained anything truly incriminating until we took down Genka's primary intelligence base. We retrieved correspondence between Genka and several rogue ninja groups in his employment, death warrants signed by Genka and documents dating back several years. We have brought all this to you in the hopes of gaining your help and offering ours."

The Hokage folded his hands in front of him as he leaned forward.

"You said you acquired all of these things, but where are they?"

With a flutter, Daichi produced an ordinary looking suitcase from the folds of his cloak. Daichi walked forward and placed the case on the Hokge's desk, then stepped back to his original position.

"We believe that Genka is after a very rare jutsu scroll, one that was believed to only exist in myth."

"And what would Genka want with that?"

"We've found references in ancient scrolls that Genka had acquired about a legendary bijuu and an old enchantment that will allow anyone to control this powerful beast."

A wizened old man stood up and spoke. "What bijuu do you speak of? All of the tailed beasts are accounted for and sealed in a Jinchuuriki. The most powerful is not ten feet from you."

Ashi nodded in understanding. "Yes, we realize this, but the bijuu we are talking about has only been spoken about in stories. We're talking about the legendary 10 Tailed Dragon, Father of the Bijuu."

A council member snorted in amusement. "You expect us to believe that Itsuo is after a fairy tale? If that's the case, then why worry. Let Itsuo go on his little search. What do we have to fear from legends?"

Ashi sighed. "My lord Hokage, there is folder in the briefcase my team has provided. Inside the folder are pictures and documents that refer to a mine somewhere in Lightning Country. We believe that in is in this mine that contains the 10 Tailed Beast."

"You _believe_?"

"Yes, we believe. Although, we do not know the exact location. All we know is that it is somewhere in Lightning country. That was why we decided to storm a high security facility that belonged to Itsuo. We did not find the location of the mine, but we did discover the location of a scroll containing the ancient incantation that will release the 10 Tailed Beast and give Itsuo the power to control it. If we are to stop Itsuo, then we have to get to that scroll before he does."

The Hokage had quickly scanned the papers and scrolls inside of the case while Ashi talked. Closing it and handing if off to his son, the Hokage addressed the council. "With the knowledge of this disturbing information, I must check with Kurama on this."

The room went silent as the Hokage closed his eyes and went into a deep trance. About ten minutes later, the Hokage opened his eyes and sighed. "It seems like Ashi and her team are telling the truth. The 10 Tailed Beast was sealed underground eons ago. It's real." He addressed Ashi. "I would think that you would like to continue with your work in stopping Itsuo."

Ashi nodded. "With all due respect lord Hokage, my team and I have a personal vendetta against Itsuo and we would like to be in charge to finding him and bringing him to justice. He stole away eight years of our lives, and we think it is only right that we are the ones that see this to the very end. If you will not allow this, then we will be gone from the village and try to gain the assistance of other ninja villages instead. We only came here because this was once our home, and we owed you loyalty first."

Nodding, the Hokage leaned back in his chair. He studied the group before him. "I seems to me," he started, "that you are skilled and worthy to take this on, and I see few other choices. So, I will hereby give you permission and access to any records or information you might need. My one condition is that once you find Itsuo, you are to apprehend him and bring him back to Konoha to stand trial, alive. Understood?"

Ashi nodded. She had already discussed this with the others. They knew that if they were to bring Genka down, they would need help and the price of that would be to give up the chance of killing Genka themselves.

"Agreed."

The Hokage smiled. "Then it seems we have a deal. This meeting is adjourned."

As Ashi started to turn back to her team, the Hokage called out to her. "Ashi."

"Yes lord Hokage?"

"Welcome back."

Ashi smiled and bowed. "Thank you lord Hokage. It's good to be back."

People started to mill out of the room, but not before they in turn welcomed the lost team back home. Ashi accepted congratulations, answered questions and shook many hands well before the last person was out the door.

One of the last people in the room was Minato Uzumaki. Ashi caught his eye with hers and smiled at him. He smiled back and waved at her. Ashi felt a little flutter in her chest at the sight of him. After so many years, she saw that Minato had grown into a very handsome man. Although not as tall and muscled as Kazuki was, she could still tell that Minato had some definition to him. His eyes were still the same dark blue that she remembered and his smile…well, if her knees were any sort of indicator, it looked liked his smile still had the same effect on her too.

But before she could make her way over to him, a heavy arm fell across her shoulders and pulled her into a hard chest. Kazuki grinned down at her.

"Hey, Huboro wants to talk with us before we all separate."

"Oh, alright." Glancing back at Minato, Ashi and Kazuki walked over to where Huboro was standing with Daichi.

"Alright," Huboro said as they gathered around him, "Everything's gone well so far and I'm sure that all of you are anxious to go and see your families as soon as possible. Tomorrow we're going to go visit Genka's old offices and see what we can find. Since the investigation team didn't find anything, I don't expect us to either, but they didn't have Ashi's nose."

Ashi smiled and Kazuki clapped her on the shoulder as Huboro continued. "If we don't find anything, then I have a couple of contacts that might know where Genka went. While I'm doing that, the three of you are to find somewhere to train and get to work. Just because we're back home doesn't mean that you guys can slack off. Understood?"

"Yes Huboro-san," they said together.

"Good. I'll see you tomorrow bright and early then. Have a good night."

They disbanded and when Ashi turned to look for Minato, he was nowhere to be found. She frowned in disappointment, but when she caught sight of her father and brother waiting just outside the entrance of the meeting hall, her disappointment flew away.

She hadn't come back for Minato after all. She'd come back for her family, and that was all that mattered right now.

Ashi walked out of the building with her father and brother, Daichi and his father had already left, as had Huboro, and she said good-bye to Kazuki as he walked away in the opposite direction.

Akamaru and Ranna were waiting outside for Kiba and Nodo. When they saw Ashi, both pounced on her and howled with joy at having her back. Ashi laughed and hugged both of them tightly, telling them how much she missed them.

She hoped that Kazuki's reunion with his family went as well as her own. His mother and father were owners of a small tea shop who wanted bigger things for their son, which was why they enrolled him at the academy and as far as she knew, he had been an only child when he 'died'.

As Ashi and her family walked down the streets of Konoha, Kiba and Nodo asked Ashi questions about her life for the past eight years. She answered as best she could, leaving out any details that just might upset them.

"By the way," Nodo said when they were a few feet away from the entrance of the complex, "where's Yozora? He didn't…"

"Oh no, Yozora is alive and well. We just didn't want to risk scaring anyone by bringing him."

"Scare anyone?"

Ashi nodded. She was about to answer in length the reasoning behind not bringing her canine partner when the front door of the house burst open.

Ashi stood completely still as her mother stepped out the door. Mimi was just as Ashi remembered her with a few extra laugh lines and a touch of grey in her dark hair. Her mother looked at her with disbelief and a little fear, fear that what she was seeing wasn't real.

"I was making dinner when I smelled…It can't be…You're…"

Ashi stepped closer to Mimi, slowly.

"Mom," Ashi said softly, "it's really me, Ashi. Your nose wasn't playing tricks on you, it's me."

A sob escaped her mother as her eyes started to tear up. "Ashi, I-" Mimi swallowed thickly as tears ran down her cheeks. "Ashi…pup…you…really you…"

"Yes mom."

Openly crying now, Mimi stepped forward. Ashi met her and soon enough, they were in each other's arms, crying and laughing.

"Ashi, my Ashi! Oh gods you're alive!"

Ashi felt her own tears run down her face for the second time that day as her mother held her. She's fought for this for eight years and it felt so good to be back home.

Ashi sat in the kitchen with her family as Mimi made dinner and all of them asked her questions. So Ashi talked. She spoke about her blacksmithing apprenticeship, the many missions that she and the others went on, training, her teammates, everything she could think of.

Her family looked impressed when she told them of the weapons she had learned to craft, and the techniques she mastered and created, although she didn't tell them everything. It helped to keep a few cards up your sleeve after all. They did look doubly impressed when she told them how she taught Yozora to speak.

"Speaking of which," Mimi said, "Where is Yozora? Didn't he come with you?"

"Yes, he did, but I told him to stay in the forest until nightfall."

"Why?"

"Well, you know how big Akamaru is?"

Three heads nodded.

"Well, Yozora is bigger. Much bigger, and we was afraid that if we brought him with us in plain view, we wouldn't have gotten into the village as peacefully as we did."

Nodo cast a disbelieving look at his sister. She brought up her hands defensively, smiling. "Hey, if you don't believe me, just wait until nightfall. He'll be here."

They talked some more before sitting down to dinner and eating. Afterward, Ashi went outside just as the sun was setting, followed by her parents and brother. They stood around until the yard light came on, illuminating the kennels and medical building.

There were a few dogs barking in the background, but they suddenly grew silent. Seconds later, the shadows in between the trees shifted. Ashi smiled as a huge, hulking shadow stepped out of the forest.

"Oh my…"

"Holy…

"What…"

Ashi chuckled at her family's reaction. That was mostly people's reaction when they met Yozora for the first time, that or they'd run the other way screaming."

"You left me waiting so long I thought you had forgotten about me," Yozora rumbled.

"Never. How was your day?"

Yozora sat before Ashi, his large head tilted down to look at her. "Boring. I napped for several hours, had dinner, then bathed in the river before coming here."

"Aw, did you wash up especially to meet the family?"

Yozora swished his tail and grumbled out a short, "No."

Ashi laughed and reached up to scratch Yozora's chest. He growled in pleasure.

Laughing again, Ashi turned to her gap-mouthed family as they watched the exchange. "You remember Yozora, and Yozora you remember the family?"

Yozora bowed his head, his golden eyes shining in the darkness. "It's very nice to see all of you again. I know that I'm…a bit different from what you remember."

Kiba was the first to snap out of the dumbstruck state that had hit his wife and son. He cleared his throat and said, "Yes, I-ah, it's nice to see you too Yozora. Good to know that Ashi had you looking after her."

Yozora barked out a laugh. "Yes, I'm sure you are."

Mimi came up next. "I must say that I did not expect you to get this big Yozora."

Grunting in agreement, Yozora said, "Neither did Ashi, but she did some research a few years ago and found out that every generation or so, a wolf pup is born with the genetic coding of the first wolves that I am descended from. Guess I'm lucky that way."

Nodo and his parents got over their initial shocks and conversed with Yozora and Ashi for a while longer before going to bed. Mimi told Ashi that her old room was available to her if she wanted, but Ashi said that she would sleep with Yozora for the night. Mimi smiled, kissed her on the forehead goodnight and went to bed with Kiba.

Before going, Nodo hugged Ashi one last time. "Glad that you're home sis. You have no idea how much we missed you."

Ashi smiled and squeezed her arms around Nodo's middle. "I missed all of you too."

Pulling back, Nodo grinned and punched her lightly on the chin. "Night."

"Night," Ashi said as she watched her brother go inside.

Yozora lay down in the soft grass and Ashi lay down next to him. She snuggled up into his side and relaxed as she listened to his strong heart beat. She must not have realized how tired she was from the day's events because a few minutes after laying down, she fell fast asleep.

* * *

Ashi woke up the next day bright and early. First thing that she did was to tell Yozora before he left that they were training that day and that she would call him when they started. Yozora just grunted and disappeared into the trees.

Next, she had breakfast with her family. She asked Nodo if he could take her to Genka's former offices. He agreed and the two of them left the house with Ranna at their heels. They met Daichi, Kazuki and Huboro in the front of a red building.

"This is it?"

Nodo nodded. "Yup. Genka was stationed here for 10 years before he left. The investigation team didn't find anything, but maybe you'll have more luck. I have some paper work I have to fill out from my last mission. I'll see you later at the training grounds, ok?"

He waved goodbye to them as he walked down the street and disappeared around the corner.

"The training ground?" Kazuki said as they entered the building.

Ashi shrugged. "Yeah, he wanted to come and spar a bit. So I invited him." She eyed him comically. "Got a problem Kaz?"

Kazuki smiled and shook his head. "Nope, no problem, so put away the claws killer."

Ashi growled and took a playful swipe at him. Kazuki dodged easily and sidestepped around her, but not before Ashi grabbed a handful of his shirt and tugged. Kazuki grinned and 'stumbled' into her, squishing her against the wall.

"Oh, so sorry Ash!" He said feigning an apologetic tone. "I just lost my footing there for a second."

Ashi squealed as she tried to push Kazuki off her. "Kaz! Get off you big goon!"

They played around for a few more minutes before they heard the sound of a throat being cleared. Huboro was gazing at them, looking unimpressed by their actions. Kazuki and Ashi just grinned sheepishly.

Huboro sighed and told Kazuki and Ashi to go start with the second floor and move up while he and Daichi took the first and moved down. Kazuki and Ashi split from the others and headed up the stairs at the end of the hall.

Huboro sighed again as he watched them go, and then started the search with Daichi.

Ashi started to sniff the air as soon as they stepped onto the second floor. Kazuki walked down the hall, checking the empty rooms, rummaging through and around any leftover furniture.

Ashi continued to sniff down the other end of the hall. She stepped into what looked like someone's old office. There was a desk, a few filing cabinets that she guessed were empty, and a small window.

Stepping through the doorway, Ashi sniffed the air experimentally. Her eyes widened as she caught a scent familiar to her, but what…

"Kazuki!"

A second later, Kazuki was right behind her, his eyes shifting around the room before he looked down at her. "What is it? Did you find something?"

Ashi nodded. "Yeah, at least I think I did. Remember that old woman Kiren?"

Kazuki's face turned dark and he nodded. Kazuki had more of a grudge against Kiren than any of them since his leg was lost because of her.

"I can smell her in this room. It's the same sick-sweet smell of her perfume."

"Then she was working for Genka just like we thought. Does the scent lead anywhere?"

Ashi sniffed around the room a bit more. The scent just stayed in the room though and she couldn't follow it beyond a few steps beyond the door. Scowling in defeat, Ashi left the room, searched the rest of the second floor and moved up with Kazuki.

They had just wrapped up with the last floor when one of Daichi's bugs landed on Ashi's hand.

"Hey," she called to Kazuki. She lifted her hand to show him the small insect. "Looks like Daichi and Huboro-san are done downstairs. Did you find anything?"

Kazuki shook his head and brushed himself off.

"Me either. Let's get downstairs, maybe Huboro-san or Daichi found something. Let's go."

They went down to the first floor and found Daichi and Huboro standing just inside the front entrance, waiting for them.

"Did you find anything?" Ashi asked Huboro.

He shook his head. Ashi glanced at Daichi, but he shook his head too.

"I recognized a scent of an old friend of ours in an office on the second floor."

"Who's scent was it?"

"Kiren's."

Huboro absorbed the information. "So now we can confirm that she definitely worked for Genka. Was there a trail?"

Ashi shook her head.

"Alright, you three continue on with training. Good work. I'll go and do some more digging and I have to contact a few people. Hopefully I can get some info about where he's gone. Dismissed."

As soon as Huboro left, Ashi, Kazuki and Daichi left for training. Ashi led them in the direction of training ground 13, the grounds where Nodo usually trained.

No one was around when they arrived, so they decided to warm up before starting. Training ground 13 was a large clearing surrounded by trees. There were patches of warn earth spotting the green, but the grass was thick and springy.

Ashi walked into the center of the field and opened her mouth to give a long, low howl. An answering howl travelled back to her on the wind a moment later. Smiling, Ashi started stretching and waited for Yozora to arrive.

A rustle in the trees caught Ashi's attention. She resumed stretching, not giving away the fact that she had heard anything. Glancing at Kazuki and Daichi, Ashi said, "So what exercise do you guys want to go through today?"

Kazuki groaned as he stretched out his back. "Well, we could do 'search and destroy'. That's always been my favorite." He grinned. Ashi smiled back, knowing that Kazuki and Daichi had heard the unknown person in the trees just as she had.

Looking at Daichi, Ashi knew that he had already deployed his bugs to check out the enemy and was waiting for him to signal whether the person was hostile or not.

Daichi tilted his head to the side, as if in thought. Seeing this, Ashi knew that the intruder was not hostile. _Probably just checking us out_, Ashi thought. She sighed and stood up straight.

"I think it would be better if we went over 'shock and awe tactics' first."

Kazuki pouted comically, making Ashi grin. "We can always do 'hunting season' later," she conceded.

"I love 'hunting season' even more than 'search and destroy'." Happy once again, Kazuki rolled his shoulders in anticipation. "So how do you want to do this?"

"On the count of three?" Ashi said.

Kazuki and Daichi nodded. Ashi clapped her hands together. "Alright! One!"

They sprang off without Ashi finishing the count. Moving quickly, Ashi positioned herself in front of the unknown person, Daichi went behind them, while Kazuki attacked from above. Ashi heard the person grunt as Kazuki tackled them, both of them coming down from the tree that the spy was crouching in. Kazuki had his large arms banded around the person, making sure that they wouldn't be able to get away easily.

Ashi had a kunai in her hand the second that Kazuki and the spy had connected. As she approached, she recognized the person struggling in Kazuki's arms.

"What are you doing here?"

Yumi Uchiha glared at her. "Nodo invited Minato and I here to train. I didn't think that I would be attacked like this."

Ashi motioned for Kazuki to let her go. "Maybe next time you should just walk up to us instead of trying to spy on us from a tree. Not well, I might add."

Flushing with anger and embarrassment, Yumi shoved away from Kazuki as soon as he loosened his hold on her. Chuckling, he backed up, hands held up in surrender.

Yumi turned on Ashi. "How did you know I was in the tree?"

"I heard you," Ashi said simply.

Yumi snorted. "That's impossible. I'm virtually undetectable in the field and I have the best stealth techniques in the village. Ever."

"Ashi is better."

Ashi smiled at Daichi. He never said much, but she knew that he would always have her back.

Yumi brushed some non-existent dirt of her vest. "Well, I seriously doubt that."

Ashi shrugged. "I'm not here to prove anything to you Yumi. I just want to do some training with my team and my brother. By the way Nodo, you're breathing so loudly that they can probably hear you in Suna."

A bark of a laugh sounded behind her. A moment later, Nodo walked into view with Minato behind him.

"I can't believe you heard me. That's really impressive sis. Did you develop supersonic hearing while you were gone or what?"

Ashi smiled and shook her head. "No, but Huboro-san made us spend a year blindfolded so that our other senses could reach their maximum potential."

Nodo whistled under his breath. "Damn."

"Hey, we can swap horror stories later," Kazuki broke in. "I want to play 'hunting season'."

"What's 'hunting season'?" Minato asked.

Ashi sighed. "You'll see, but we're waiting for Yozora to get here to start. By the way Nodo, where's Ranna?"

"Ah, she's back at the compound. We had a tough mission a while ago and she's been on the mend since, so Mom wanted to check up with her. She's gonna be just fine though."

When the group made their way back to the clearing, they found Yozora waiting for them, laying in the grass.

Ashi ignored the predictable gasps of surprise that came from Yumi and Minato and walked right up Yozora.

"You're late."

Yozora sniffed. "I'm never late. I arrived at the time that I meant to. You were just early."

"You're so full of crap," Kazuki said as he walked up, Daichi chuckling behind him.

Ignoring him, Yozora turned his golden gaze to Minato and Yumi. He studied them before saying point blank, "Who's the bitch?."

Yumi's went white with anger while Kazuki, Ashi and Nodo laughed in surprise. Daichi also smiled openly, and Minato hid his smile behind his hand.

"How dare you call me that!"

Yozora pulled off a very convincing eyebrow lift. "What did I call you?"

Ashi cleared her throat, her lips still curled in a smile. "I'm sorry Yumi, but Yozora usually refers to human females as he would a female of his own species. He seems to forget to change his speech patterns around others quite easily."

Yozora glanced at her. "Oh yeah, please forgive me. I will be more careful with my words in the future."

Before Yumi could say anything else, Minato cut in. "It's amazing that you've grown as much as you have Yozora, and that you're speech is so…natural. Did Ashi teach you?"

Yozora nodded his large head. "Yup. Ashi taught me everything I know." Looking down at her with love in his golden eyes, Yozora nuzzled Ashi's shoulder. "We've looked out for each other for a long time."

Ashi rubbed Yozora's shoulder soothingly. Changing the subject, Ashi said, "So who's gonna play 'hunting season'?"

Kazuki, Daichi and Yozora said they were.

"What's 'hunting season'?" Nodo asked.

Kazuki explained. "It's this training exercise that we came up with some time ago that allowed us to hone our tracking skills, chalkra control and other various forms of jutsu. One of us runs off somewhere and the others try to find them using whatever means we have. No weapons allowed. We draw straws to see who gets to be the prey, and we call the prey 'the rabbit'."

"Why do you call them 'the rabbit'?" Minato asked.

Kazuki grinned. "That's the best part actually." Walking to wear his teams packs were, he picked up his and opened it. Pulling a bundle from inside, he tossed it to Minato. "Whoever looses the draw has to wear that."

Minato pulled the folds of the bundles back with Nodo and Yumi watching. When he revealed what the bundle was, he looked up at Kazuki.

"You're kidding."

Kazuki shook his head. "Nope."

Nodo reached over and pulled up a scrap of white cloth. Stretching it out, he revealed it to be a pair of little white shorts with a cotton ball attached to the back of them. Minato pulled out another scrap of fabric that turned out to be a small top, no doubt for Ashi, a pair of furry bunny ears and a pair of shoes and gloves made to look like rabbit feet.

"So, do you guys want to play or what?"

Nodo looked at Minato. They grinned at each other and nodded. Yumi also agreed to participate, but sounded reluctant.

Kazuki rubbed his hands together eagerly. "Alright. Then let the games begin!"


End file.
